Enlarge / Having an important assembly in Microsoft Groups. (credit score: Microsoft)

There’s a free Microsoft Groups tier now, and there’ll proceed to be a free Microsoft Groups tier after April 12, 2023. However in a bureaucratic twist, neither product can have something to do with the opposite. Present customers of Microsoft Groups Free will both must create new accounts in a brand new tier referred to as Microsoft Groups (free), dropping all their Groups information within the course of, or improve to a $4-per-user-per-month Microsoft Groups Necessities tier to maintain all their stuff.

Microsoft spells out the adjustments on this help web page in regards to the retirement of Microsoft Groups Free, now referred to as Microsoft Groups Free (traditional). Information from Microsoft Groups Free (traditional) may be downloaded and saved till the service shuts down on April 12, however there is no automated course of for importing these information or different person accounts right into a Microsoft Groups (free) account.

Microsoft’s product web page positions the brand new Microsoft Groups (free) tier as a product for residence customers and households, however the options it gives are fairly just like the previous traditional tier general. Video calls nonetheless high out at 100 contributors and a one-hour runtime (one-on-one conferences can run for as much as 30 hours). Every Groups (free) person will get 5GB of storage, whereas Groups Free (traditional) customers acquired 2GB every and a 10GB pool of shared storage. Each merchandise supply limitless chatting and entry to shared information, job lists, and polls.